Racing Game

For this project, you will create a racing board game. The goal of this project is to learn how to balance randomness, player movement, and strategy to create a sufficiently complex game system to allow for emergent player behavior.

Game Mechanics:

As a constraint for this project, you must create a 4 player track-based racing game in which players start with one or more pieces that advance according to player actions. Each game will be played for 25 minutes in class by two groups of 4 students. The winner of the game will be the player who gets their piece(s) from start to home first. To accomplish this project, you may implement a variety of mechanics to add complexity to your racing games. For this project, you will not recreate any game played in or out of class, and instead should, through iterative design practices, play with different mechanics and feedback from playtesting to develop an original board game. As a starting point, you can examine and test many of the mechanics experienced or discussed within class. The definitions for many of these mechanics can be found on the site Board Game Geek.

Required Mechanics:

  • Track Movement
  • Race

Chance Movement Mechanics:

  • Dice Rolling
  • Roll / Spin and Move
  • Resources to Move

Turn Order Mechanics:

  • Programmed Movement
  • Turn Based

Balancing/Conflict/Feedback Mechanics:

  • Catch the Leader
  • Push your luck
  • Events
  • Static Capture
  • Take That
  • Variable Player Powers
  • Open Drafting
  • Score-and-Reset Game
  • Hand Management

Theming/Narrative:

For your game, you will develop a theme/narrative that directly relates to the mechanics of your game design. Looking at Heat for example, one of the main mechanics is balancing taking null-value cards while moving around designated corner areas on the game board. This mechanic directly relates to downshifting on a turn in Formula One racing. The theme of your game does not need to relate to racing specifically. Perhaps the theming is more personal, related to your own “movement” through your days, weeks, months, years? As an explicit design constraint, the game will not be about the “college experience,” such as a game about getting to class or picking classes. As part of the design process, allow for the mechanics to inform the theming and the theming to inform the mechanics. If you develop games about horses racing through a field, perhaps a horse gets distracted by a fluttering butterfly, how might this be implemented as a mechanic?

Production Quality

As an intermediate media studies course, you are expected to make use of past design and production experience to produce artistic and well-design boards, pieces, and a clear rule book. For your project, you may make use of whatever production techniques you prefer or want to learn more about. For example, you might draw your board in colored pencil and then mount it to chip board. Or you might sculpt your game board and pieces out of modeling clay and use a series of hand drawn cards. Whatever production method you choose, your production design should display clear artistic and creative intention. Additionally, “raw material” will not be accepted as creative intention. In other words, if you choose to use a laser cutter, 3D printer, or other digital fabrication technique, you should alter the material to become “handmade,” either through painting or other processes.

For examples of the production quality expectations for your game board, pieces, and rule book, please review this folder of student examples. These games are not all racing games; however, they represent the design and production value expectations for this project and the course.

During each project, we will learn one production process for production board games. For this project, we will be learning about laser cutting. While the tutorial for laser cutting will be required, you do not need to make use of laser cutting in project. More information on laser cutting can be found below.

Process

You will develop this game over 3 to 4 weeks. During this period, you will hit certain milestones that will be graded independently from the final project. It is crucial for the development of this project to complete every milestone.

Project Milestones (22.5 points total):

  1. Heat Analysis (2.5 points, Due 1/30 at 11:59 PM)
  2. Project proposal (2.5 points, Due 2/3)
  3. Playable Paper Prototype (5 points, Due 2/10)
  4. (Optional) Laser Cutting Files (Due 2/17)
  5. Final Board Game (12.5 points, Due 2/24 or 2/26)

Heat Analysis

Submit a PDF to this link with the following: In 500-700 words, discuss the differences between Candy Land and Heat: Pedal to the Metal. Your response should focus on the games’ meaningful choices, emergence, feedback, and handling of chance/probability. Please include your first name and last name in your file.

Rubric:

2-2.5: The student clearly articulated the differences and similarities between the games using knowledge gained from readings and class.

0-1.9: The student mostly articulated the differences and similarities between the games somewhat using knowledge gained from readings and class.

Project Proposal

The first step is to conceptualize your racing game. It is recommended to refer to Chapter 9 of Games, Design and Play for tips and techniques for conceptualizing your project.

Once you have a solid concept in mind, create a project proposal for your racing game that answers each of the following questions. Use this link to submit a pdf of your project proposal. Please include your first and last name in the file. Bring a printed copy of your proposal to class.

  1. What is the working title of your game?
  2. In one paragraph, describe the mechanics and play experience of your game.
  3. What is the goal of your game?
  4. What are the player’s actions within your game?
  5. What objects are being used in your game a. What production processes do you plan to create the objects within your game? b. Note: If you plan to use the laser cutter at Scripps, please see the section below on laser cutter files to get a better understanding of what can be produced with our current materials. c. If you plan on using dice in your game, please indicate the type and number of dice you will be using. (e.g. two six-sided dice)
  6. Describe the rules of your game.
  7. What is the theme of your game and how will it relate to the game mechanics?
  8. How are skill, strategy, chance and uncertainty balanced and used within your game?
  9. How does the game allow for meaningful play and choices?
  10. How do you imagine the game will make players feel?
  11. Create a flow chart of the states of your game that describes the various game states (See Figure 7.3 in Chapter 7 of Games, Play and Design)

Project proposals will be discussed in class amongst peers and during 5-minute meetings with the instructor.

Rubric:

2-2.5: The student answered all questions and clearly articulated the design intentions of their project.

0-1.9: The student answered some to all questions and mostly articulated the design intentions of their project.

Playable Paper Prototype

After receiving feedback on your project proposal, you will develop a paper prototype for your game project. Your paper prototype should include playable versions of all the objects of your game as well as 4 typed and printed copies of your rule book. Your prototype objects do not need to be final production quality, but they do need to be “designed.” In other words, your prototype objects should be designed in a way that they both convey necessary information and provide the object affordances that you plan to use in your final game. As an example, if you are using cards as a form of hidden information, your cards should not be transparent or translucent so that players might discern what cards each player has in their hand. For more information on prototyping your game, refer to Chapter 10 of Games, Play, and Design.

Rubric:

4-5: The student made a clear playable prototype that is complete will all pieces an four copies of the game rules.

3-4: The student’s playable prototype is mostly clear; however, parts seem to still be in the “rough draft” stage and were not thought through before creating the prototype.

2-3: The prototype is somewhat playable. Players may be confused the pieces or all the rule books were not printed.

1-2: The prototype is not very playable. Some of the pieces may be missing or the affordances of certain objects are not clear.

0-1: Although the student turned in material, the prototype is not playable.

Laser Cutting Files

As part of the development process for your racing game, you will learn how to use Adobe Illustrator to produce files for the laser cutter in the Scripps Fab Lab. While all students will follow the tutorial on how to produce files for the laser cutter, not all students are required to use the laser cutter for the final version of your game. Students should indicate in their project proposal if they plan to use the laser cutter. To simplify the production process of using the laser cutter, students will be limited to cutting/engraving 3mm plywood. This plywood can be used to create a variety of components including player pieces, tokens, or a full game board. As a note, submitting raw laser cut wood for the final version of the game will not be accepted. Laser cut pieces must be treated in some form such as with the use of paint.

An Adobe Illustrator file must be submitted using this link the class before our laser cutting session. Your file name should include your first name and last name.

Final Board Game (12.5 points)

Your final board game will include final production pieces, board, as well as a finalized rule book for your game. The game design of your final board game will implement any information you learned during the testing of your paper prototype.

Your final submission will include the following:

  1. A printed rule book. a. Submit a pdf version of rule book to this link if applicable.
  2. The board and other gambits that are needed to play your game.

Please hold onto your game during the semester! If time is available, we will produce photo documentation for each game and rule book.

Final Rubric

Game Design (5 points)

5: The student went above and beyond expectations for balancing skill, strategy, chance and uncertainty in their game design. The game produced moments of meaningful choice and emergent play. Players were emotionally and ludically engaged during play.

4-4.9: The student was successful in balancing skill, strategy, chance and uncertainty in their game design. Most of the game produced moments of meaningful choice. Students were often emotionally and ludically engaged during play.

3-3.9: The students met expectations in balancing their game. During some moments of play, players had the opportunity for meaningful choice. Students, at points, were emotionally and ludically engaged in play.

1.1-2.9: The student did meet minimal expectations in balancing their game. Players rarely had opportunities for meaningful choice and were not engaged.

0-1: The student failed to meet most if any expectation for balancing their game. Players had no opportunities for meaningful choice and were not engaged.

Production (5 points)

5: The student went above and beyond expectations for production value and exceedingly demonstrated clear artistic and creative intention in the design choices they made for their project.

4-4.9: The student surpassed expectations for production value and mostly demonstrated clear artistic and creative intention in the design choices they made for their project.

3-3.9: The student met expectations for production value and, at moments, demonstrated clear artistic and creative intention in the design choices they made for their project.

1.1-2.9: The student met minimal expectations for production value and rarely demonstrated clear artistic and creative intention in the design choices they made for their project.

0-1: The student did not meet minimal expectations for production value and did not demonstrate clear artistic and creative intention in the design choices they made for their project.

Theming (2.5 points)

2-2.5: The students exceeded expectations for the theming of their game. There is a clear and discernable connection between the mechanics of their game and the theming.

1-1.9: The students met expectations for the theming of their game. There is a somewhat clear and discernable connection between the mechanics of their game and the theming.

0-1: The students did not meet expectations for the theming of their game. There is little to no connection between the mechanics of their game and the theming.